Chargers truck past Johnsburg

JOHNSBURG – Dundee-Crown’s outcome against Johnsburg could have gone any number of ways, most of which did not look favorable for the Chargers.

D-C trailed the Skyhawks, who were hitting almost every shot, early in the fourth quarter.

“We could have given up there late in the third quarter and early in the fourth,” Chargers forward Dylan Kissack said. “We just kept on truckin’. We kept a positive attitude. It was mainly our attitude. We knew we could get it done at the end.”

D-C demonstrated why it has only one loss with a remarkable finish to defeat Johnsburg, 55-49, in their Fox Valley Conference boys basketball crossover game Friday night. The Chargers (7-1) ended the game with a 19-2 run and forced eight Skyhawks’ turnovers in the final quarter.

“We just played harder,” D-C coach Lance Huber said. “We didn’t change anything [on defense], we just played harder. We got a little momentum and when we get going, the guys really feed off that. The defense got us going and got [Johnsburg] a little bit on their heels.”

Johnsburg (4-3) led 47-36 with 6:30 remaining when D-C seemed like it found another gear. The Chargers got nine points from guard Cordero Parson in the fourth quarter and Kissack hit his fourth 3-pointer of the game during the comeback.

Kissack’s 3 cut the lead to 47-46 with 2:45 to go. Brandon Rodriguez followed with a free throw and J.T. Beasley got a steal and layup off of full-court pressure for the lead. Rodriguez also got a steal and layup for a 51-47 lead.

Johnsburg’s Marcus Huemann tipped in a basket with 25 seconds remaining to make it 51-49 and Parson was fouled for a one-and-bonus free-throw with 13.8 to go. Kissack pulled a page out of the movie “Hoosiers” during the timeout before Parson’s second free throw.

“I said, ‘After he makes this one what defense are we going to be in?’ ” Kissack said. “You have to have confidence, he’s one of our better free-throw shooters. I was confident he was going to knock it down.”

Parson hit the second shot, then Beasley added a layup at the buzzer after Johnsburg missed.

“I just wanted to stay calm and make them,” Parson said. “The defense started it. We stuck together and played real tough defense.”

Johnsburg hit 10 of 14 shots and scored 25 points in the third quarter. Collin Ridout scored a game-high 16 points, with Huemann adding 12 and Ben Dingman scoring 10 for the Skyhawks. Johnsburg coach Mike Toussaint also thought it hurt that point guard Kevin Dombrowski turned his left ankle 3:30 remaining and had to sit for 1:24.

“We lost our composure,” Toussaint said. “We got caught up in the moment. We controlled the tempo in the third quarter and were strong with the ball. In the fourth, we weren’t strong with it and rushed too much. They were down and they got more aggressive and we didn’t match it.”

Johnsburg should get a boost when 6-3 forward T.J. Sigmund returns today at the Jacobs Holiday Classic. The Skyhawks face Crystal Lake South at 1:30 p.m. Sigmund has been absent for reasons Toussaint could not disclose, but Toussaint said Sigmund would return today.

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